Senior officers couldn’t appear before the IHC in the audio leaks case despite court order

ISLAMABAD, Feb 19 (SABAH): Senior officers couldn’t appear before the Islamabad High Court in the audio leaks case on Monday despite court order.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) summoned the directors general (DG) of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in connection with an audio leaks case but they did not appear.

Justice Babar Sattar of IHC heard the case of audio leaks. The court had also summoned the chairman of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and representatives of telecom companies but they didn’t show up too.

The court expressed resentment over the casual approach of the officers and said how could they stay away from the case hearing. Justice Sattar hinted at issuing warrants for the arrest of these officers.  

The government lawyer stated that the DG FIA couldn’t appear in court due to illness and the deputy director general has appeared in court on behalf of the DG IB. FIA Director Waqaruddin Syed appeared in court.

The court adjourned the case hearing till two weeks and also directed the representatives of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) to appear before the court.

The unlawfully recorded telephone conversations were disseminated through electronic media and covered in print media.

Justic Babar Sattar heard the pleas of former Chief Justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar’s son Najam Saqib and a PTI ticket holder. Bushra Bibi also filed a similar plea. Alleged audio leaks of Najam Saqib with Mian Uzair regarding the trade of PTI ticket had made waves on the social media.

In the first audio talk, Najam Saqib could be heard talking to Abuzar Chaddar, PTI candidate from PP-137, wherein he was instructing Chaddar to call on his father Saqib Nisar after getting the ticket.